Punjab’s power subsidy bill likely to touch Rs 20K crore this fiscal

Aman Sood

Patiala, October 18

In the wake of freebies, the power subsidy bill is set to touch Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal.

In its tariff order for 2023-24, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) had estimated a subsidy of Rs 18,714.51 crore for Punjab.

This included Rs 8,809 crore for the agriculture sector, Rs 5,886 crore (300 free units per month to domestic consumers), Rs 1,427 crore for consumers with load up to 7 kW at Rs 2.50 per unit and Rs 2,500 crore for industrial consumers.

A top PSPCL official said, “The domestic subsidy is expected to touch Rs 8,813 crore this fiscal with an average rise of Rs 125 crore per month.” “For a small state like Punjab, such a huge subsidy bill does not augur well. A fixed minimal charge is a must to ensure that power wastage does not take place.”

Further, free power for the agriculture sector has led to depletion of groundwater. In the 1980s, there were 2.8 lakh tubewell connections which have now crossed 14.5 lakh.

Despite inclement weather this year, the power demand increased during the peak paddy season and remained above 14,500 MW.

A report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) by an expert committee recently pointed out that there were 14.5 lakh tubewells in the state. Every tubewell pumps out 30.24 lakh litres of water per week with an average eight hours of electricity supply. Thus, 14.5 lakh tubewells pump out 4,385 billion litres of water every week.

VK Gupta, spokesperson, All India Power Engineers Federation, said Punjab must review its power subsidy policy for domestic and agriculture consumers.

“If anything is given free, the consumption increases. This is exemplified by an increase in the number of domestic connections after the announcement of free monthly 300 units last year. The domestic and agriculture subsidy needs to be restricted to deserving consumers,” said Gupta. “Power subsidy has led to depletion of groundwater. The government must think about this as well,” he said.